The recent accidental leak of the Mass Effect 3 beta on Xbox Live has prompted the unsanctioned release of gameplay footage and cinematics from Bioware's upcoming RPG-with-shooter-elements or shooter-with-RPG-elements—the developers themselves appear to be undecided about what they want the game to be.
The leaked footage, which may soon be removed from YouTube, offers the first fourteen minutes of the game as Shepard gears up to fight some bad guys. It shows the game's startup screen, character creation, and three gameplay modes:
Action Mode "For those who want to emphasize action and combat and minimize story management. Action mode will set automatic replies in conversation and a normal difficulty."
Story Mode "For those who want to emphasize story immersion and minimize combat pressure. Story mode will set manually selectable replies in conversation and a minimal combat difficulty."
RPG Mode "For those who want to explore both realms of story and combat. RPG mode will set manually-selectable replies in conversation and a normal combat difficulty."
The audio has issues, and only plays out of the right speaker, but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying what it has to offer—visually, that is.
The loading times are a bit long, even for an Xbox 360 game. Hopefully it's something Bioware fixes by the time it releases the full version of the game.
Mass Effect 3 is set for a March 6, 2012 release on the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 console platforms.
Watch it at your discretion.
